1. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "Whoever says: there is no god but Allah enters Paradise." Tabarani narrated it from Abu Dharr in the Kabir (7:55), Ibn Hibban in his Sahih (31), al-Hakim in his Mustadrak (4:251), al-Mundhiri in al-Targhib (2:422), al-Haythami in Majma` al-zawa'id (1:18), Ibn `Adi (7:2639), Abu Nu`aym in the Hilya (7:174), and al-Bazzar from `Umar.

2. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "Whoever says there is no god but Allah enters Paradise even if he commits adultery and even if he steals (i.e. even if he commits great sins)." (Nasa'i, Tabarani and others from Abu al-Darda' - sahih)

3. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "Whoever witnesses that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Messenger, Allah forbids the Fire from touching him." Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim from `Ubada ibn al-Samit.

Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari, book of riqaq ch. 14 (1989 ed. 11:324) says that the hadiths of "Allah forbids the Fire from touching him" are even more explicit than those of "Allah will enter him into Paradise" in establishing that the one who declares Allah's oneness is saved even if he does not heed the orders and the prohibitions.

4. The Companions were talking about Malik ibn Dukhshum, and they wished that the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- would curse him so that he should die or meet some calamity. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "Does Malik ibn Dukhshum not testify to the fact that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah?" They said: "Yes, he no doubt says this but it is not in his heart." The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- replied: "No-one ever witnesses that there is no god but Allah and that I am Allah's Messenger and then enters the Fire nor is consumed by it." Anas said: "This hadith impressed me so much that I ordered my son to write it down and he did." Muslim narrates it.

5. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said that Allah will save a man of his community the record of whose sins fills 99 books, each book extending as far as the eye can see. Against all this will be weighed the one good deed that he has, which is his witnessing that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, and it will outweigh all the rest. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- then said: "Nothing is of any weight with Allah's Name."

6. Bukhari narrates in his Sahih (Volume 9, Book 93, Number 601): Ma`bad ibn Hilal al-`Anazi relates: Some of us from Basra gathered and went to Anas bin Malik in company with Thabit al-Bunani so that he might ask Anas about the Hadith of Intercession on our behalf. Anas was in his palace, and our arrival coincided with his late morning (Duha) prayer. We asked permission to enter and he admitted us, sitting on his bed. We said to Thabit, "Do not ask him about anything else first but the Hadith of Intercession." He said, "O Abu Hamza! Here are your brethren from Basra coming to ask you about the Hadith of Intercession." Anas then said:

The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- talked to us saying: On the Day of Resurrection the people will surge one group after another like waves, and then they will come to Adam and say: "Please intercede for us with your Lord." He will say: "I am not fit for this. You should go to Ibrahim as he is the Intimate Friend (khalil) of the Beneficent." They will go to Ibrahim and he will say: "I am not fit for this, but you should go to Moses as he is the one to whom Allah spoke directly." So they will go to Musa and he will say: "I am not fit for this, but you should go to `Isa as he is a soul created (directly) by Allah, and His Word (Be!)." They will go to `Isa and he will say: "I am not fit for this, but you should go to Muhammad."

They will come to me and I will say: "I can do it." Then I will ask for my Lord's permission and it will be given; then He will inspire me to praise Him with such praises as I cannot fathom. So I will praise Him with those praises and will fall down prostrate before Him. Then it will be said: "O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be heard; ask, for your will be granted your request; intercede, for your intercession will be accepted." I will say: "O Lord, my Community! My Community!" And then it will be said: "Go and take out of the Fire all those who have in their hearts faith the weight of a barley grain."

I will go and do so and return to praise Him with the same praises, and fall down prostrate before Him. Then it will be said: "O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be heard; ask, for your will be granted your request; intercede, for your intercession will be accepted." I will say: "O Lord, my Community! My Community!" And then it will be said: "Go and take out of the Fire all those who have in their hearts faith the like of a small ant or a mustard-seed."

I will go and do so and return to praise Him with the same praises, and fall down prostrate before Him. Then it will be said: "O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be heard; ask, for you will be granted your request; intercede, for your intercession will be accepted." I will say: "O Lord, my Community! My Community!" And then it will be said: "Go and take out of the Fire all those who have in their hearts the smallest iota of faith." I will go and do so.

When we left Anas, I said to some of my companions: "Let us pass by al-Hasan (al-Basri) who is hiding himself in the house of Abu Khalifa and request him to recount to us what Anas ibn Malik has just told us." So we went to him and we greeted him and he admitted us. We said to him: "O Abu Sa`id! We came to you from your brother Anas ibn Malik and he related to us a Hadith about the intercession the like of which I have never heard." He said: "What is that?" We told him of the Hadith and at the end we said: "He stopped at this point." He said: "What then?" We said: "He did not add anything after that." He said: "Anas related the Hadith to me twenty years ago when he was a young fellow. I don't know whether he forgot or if he did not like to let you depend overly on what he might have said." We said, "O Abu Sa`id! Do tell us." He smiled and said: "Man was created hasty. I only mentioned it because I was going to inform you of it. Anas told me the same as he told you and said that the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- added:

I will then return for a fourth time and praise Him similarly and prostrate before Him the same as before. And then it will be said: "O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be heard; ask, for your will be granted your request; intercede, for your intercession will be accepted." I will then say: "O Lord, allow me to intercede for whoever said: la ilaha illallah." Then Allah will say:

7. This is confirmed by another well-known hadith whereby the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "My intercession is for those people of my Community who commit major sins." Narrated by Tirmidhi, Qiyama 11; Abu Dawud, Sunna 31; Ibn Maja, Zuhd 37; and Ahmad 3:213.

8. Adhana fi al-nasi anna man shahida an la ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lahu mukhlisan dakhala al-janna. "It was proclaimed among the people that whoever witnesses that there is no god except Allah, alone, without partner, enters Paradise." Narrated by Ibn `Adi on the authority of `Umar.

8a. Man shahida an la ilaha illallah dakhala al-janna. "Whoever witnesses that there is no god but Allah alone enters Paradise." al-Bazzar narrates it from `Umar.

10. `Uthman ibn `Affan said: I heard Allah's Messenger say: "Verily, I know a phrase which no servant utters truthfully from his heart except the Fire is made unlawful for him." `Umar ibn al-Khattab said: "I shall tell you what that phrase is. It is the kalima of sincerity with which Allah has empowered Muhammad and his Companions, the kalima of fear of Allah which Allah's Prophet enjoined upon his uncle Abu Talib on his deathbed: the witnessing that there is no god but Allah." Ahmad related it in his Musnad (1:63 #449).

11. Sa`id ibn al-Musayyib relates: When the death of Abu Talib approached, Allah's Apostle came to him and said: "Say: la ilaha illallah, a word with which I will be able to negotiate or argue (uhajju) for you in Allah's presence." Narrated by Bukhari in his Sahih (Volume 8, Book 78, Number 672). Muslim also narrates it in his Sahih.

12. Mafatih al-janna shahadatu an la ilaha illallah. "The keys to Paradise are the witnessing that there is no god but Allah." Ahmad related it from Mu`adh and Haythami said in Majma` al-zawa'id: "The men in its chain has been declared trustworthy (thiqa) although there is interruption in the transmission." It is confirmed by the next hadith.

12a. Li kulli shay'in miftahun wa miftahu al-jannati shahadatu an la ilaha illallah. "Everything has its key, and the key to Paradise is the witnessing that there is no god but Allah." Narrated by Tabarani from Mu`qal ibn Yasar. Wahb confirmed its authenticity as related in one of the chapter-titles in Bukhari's Sahih.

13. Ibn `Abbas narrated in his Commentary that the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said concerning the meaning of the verse: hal jaza'u al-ihsani illa al-ihsan - "Is the reward of goodness anything other than goodness?" (55:60): "Allah says: Can there be any other reward than Paradise in the Hereafter for one whom I blessed in his worldly life with the recitation of the kalima of la ilaha illallah?" `Ikrima and al-Hasan also said that the reward of la ilaha illallah cannot be anything but Paradise.

14. "If anyone comes on the Day of Resurrection who has said la ilaha illallah sincerely with the intention to win Allah's pleasure, Allah will make Hellfire forbidden for him." Narrated by Bukhari, vol. 8 p.288 #431.

Tirmidhi comments on the preceding hadith: "It is narrated from al-Zuhri that he was asked about the Prophet's saying whereby "Whoever says la ilaha illallah enters Paradise" and he said: "This was only in the beginning of Islam, before the revelation of obligations and the orders and prohibitions." The hafiz Abu Bakr ibn al-`Arabi (d. 543) comments on this in `Aridat al-ahwadhi (10:105): "There is no justification for Ibn Shihab's (al-Zuhri) explanation." This is confirmed by the hadith of `Utban ibn Malik. Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari, Riqaq ch. 14 (1989 ed. 11:324) mentions that the opinion of al-Zuhri and of Sa`id ibn al-Musayyib that the hadith "Whoever says la ilaha illallah applied only in the beginning of Islam was incorrect since the hadith of Abu al-Darda' and Abu Dharr whereby the Muslim enters Paradise "even if he commits adultery or steals" and the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- mentioned this precisely to contradict the logic of those who say that great sins will prevent entry into Paradise.

15. Lan yuwafiya `abdun yawma al-qiyamati yaqulu la ilaha illallah yabtaghi biha wajh Allah illa harrama Allahu `alayhi al-nar. "No servant is true to his word on the Day of Resurrection, saying: No god but Allah in order to seek Allah's good pleasure, except Allah will make the Fire unlawful for him." Narrated by Ahmad and Bukhari from `Utban ibn Malik.

16. "The best of my sayings and of the sayings of all Prophets before me is: There is no god but Allah alone, without partner, to Him belong all sovereignty and glory, and He has power over all things." Narrated by Tirmidhi from `Amr ibn Shu`ayb, from his father, from his grandfather (hasan gharib).

17. Afdalu al-a`mali al-imanu billahi wahdah, thumma al-jihad, thumma hujjatun mabrura, tufdilu sa'ir al-a`mali kama bayna matla` al-shamsi ila maghribiha. "The best deed is belief in Allah alone, then fighting in the way of Allah, then pilgrimage that is accepted: these outweigh all deeds the distance of East to West." Narrated by Ahmad from Ma`iz with a sound chain.

18. Alaysa yashhadu an la ilaha illallah wa anni rasulullah? Qalu innahu yaqulu dhalika wa ma huwa fi qalbihi. Qala la yashhadu ahadun an la ilaha illallah wa anni rasulullah fa yadkhulu al-nara aw tut`imuhu. Qala anas fa a`jabani hadha al-hadith fa qultu li ibni uktubhu fa katabahu. It is narrated on the authority of `Utban ibn Malik that he came to Madina and said: Something was wrong with my eyesight, so I said to the Prophet: "It is my ardent desire that you should grace my house with your presence and pray there so that I should take the spot where you prayed as a place of worship." (Another version also in Muslim has: I sent for the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- the message: "Come and lay for me a place for worship [khutta li masjidan]." Imam Nawawi said: It means: "Mark for me a spot that I can take as a place for worship by obtaining blessing from your having been there [mutabarrikan bi atharika].") So the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- came there, with those of the Companions whom Allah wished. He entered (my home) and performed prayer. Then the Companions began to talk among themselves about Malik ibn Dukhshum, and they wished that the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- would curse him so that he should die or meet some calamity. After the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- finished praying he said: "Does Malik ibn Dukhshum not testify to the fact that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah?" They said: "Yes, he no doubt says this but it is not in his heart." The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- replied: "No-one ever witnesses that there is no god but Allah and that I am Allah's Messenger and then enters the Fire or consumes it." Anas said: "This hadith impressed me so much that I ordered my son to write it down and he did." Narrated by Muslim. Imam Nawawi says about: "In this hadith is evidence for obtaining blessings through the relics of saints (al-tabarruk bi athar al-salihin)."

19. Al-imanu bid`un wa sab`una baban fa adnaha imatat al-adha `an al-tariq wa arfa`uha qawlu la ilaha illallah. "Belief is seventy and some branches. Its lowest branch is the removal of harm from the road while its highest is to say: There is no god but Allah." Narrated by Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, and Ahmad.

the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and give him peace, said: "Whoever speaks as his last words: la ilaha illallah" - then Abu Zur`a's spirit came out with the letter ha' (the last letter of the word Allah) before he could say "he will enter Paradise." That was in the year 262.21. Man mata wa huwa ya`lamu annahu la ilaha illallah dakhala al-janna. "Whoever dies knowing full well that there is no god but Allah, enters Paradise." Narrated by Muslim and Ahmad from `Uthman.22. Idhhab bi na`layya hatayni fa man laqita min wara'a hadha al-ha'it yashhadu an la ilaha illallah mustayqinan biha qalbahu fa bashshirhu bi al-janna. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said to Abu Hurayra: "Go with these two sandals of mine and whoever you meet behind this wall that witnesses that there is no god except Allah with certitude in his heart, give him glad tidings that he will enter Paradise." Narrated by Muslim from Abu Hurayra. The latter then met `Umar, who prevented him from announcing this to the people and the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- agreed with him on the grounds that they would then rely upon it to the exclusion of everything else. The prevention of this news from reaching the ears of the ignorant is confirmed by the hadith of Mu`adh and that of `Ubada ibn al-Samit through al-Sunabihi, both narrated by Muslim in the same chapter (Book of iman ch. 10).

23. Man shahida an la ilaha illallah wa anna Muhammadan rasulullah harrama Allahu `alayhi al-nar. `Abd al-Rahman ibn Usayla al-Sunabihi said: When I entered upon `Ubada ibn al-Samit at the time of his death I burst into tears so he said: "Why are you crying? By Allah, if I were asked to testify I would testify for you, and if I were given intercession I would intercede for you, and if it were in my power I would certainly help you! By Allah, I never heard a hadith from Allah's Messenger in which there was benefit for you except I narrated it to you, all but one: and I shall narrate it to you now since I am about to breathe my last. I heard Allah's Messenger say: "Whoever witnesses that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Messenger, Allah forbids the Fire from touching him." Muslim and Tirmidhi narrated it. Qadi `Iyad said: "In this hadith is the proof for the permissibility of keeping certain types of knowledge away from the common people due to the inability of their minds to understand it correctly, as long as it does not concern an obligation of religion or stipulations for punishment." Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim (Iman Ch. 10 #47).

24. Ya Mu`adh ibn Jabal ma min ahadin yashhadu an la ilaha illallah wa anni rasulullah sidqan min qalbihi illa harramahu allahu `ala al-nar. Qala ya rasulallah afala ukhbiru al-nasa fayastabshiru? Qala idhan yattakilu. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "O Mu`adh ibn Jabal! No one witnesses that there is no god but Allah and that I am Allah's Messenger truthfully from his heart except Allah has made him unlawful for the Fire." Mu`adh said: "O Messenger of Allah, shall I not tell the people so that they will be glad?" He replied: "If you do, they will rely on it (and leave everything else)." Narrated by Muslim, Ahmad and Bayhaqi from Anas. Muslim says: "Mu`adh narrated it at the time of his death to avoid sinning (by keeping it to himself)."

25. As`adu al-nasi bi shafa`ati yawma al-qiyama man qala La ilaha illallah khalisan mukhlisan min qalbihi. Abu Hurayra inquired from the Prophet: "O Messenger of Allah, who will be the most fortunate of people to receive your intercession on the Day of Resurrection?" The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- replied: "O Abu Hurayra, I knew, because of your love of what I say, that no one other than you would ask me of this hadith. The most fortunate of people to receive my intercession on the Day of Resurrection are those who said: la ilaha illallah purely and sincerely from the heart." Narrated by Bukhari from Abu Hurayra.

26. Usama ibn Zayd killed an idolater in battle after the latter had said: "There is no god but Allah" (la ilaha illallah). When news of this reached Allah's Messenger he condemned Usama in the strongest terms and he said to him: "How can you kill him after he said La ilaha illallah?" He replied: "But he said it with the sword hanging over his head-" The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said again: "How can you kill him after he said La ilaha illallah?" He replied: "O Messenger of Allah, he said it in dissimulation (taqiyyatan)." The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "Did you split his heart open (to see)?" and he did not cease to reprove him until Usama wished that he had not entered Islam until after he had killed that man so that he might have been forgiven all his past sins through belief. Narrated by Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad, Tayalisi, Abu Dawud, Nasa'i, al-`Adni, Abu `Awana, al-Tahawi, al-Hakim, and Bayhaqi.

27. Al-Miqdad said: I asked, "O Messenger of Allah, suppose I and one of the idolaters battled and he cut off my hand, then I was positioned to strike him and he said: la ilaha illallah! Do I kill him or spare him?" He said: "Spare him." I said: "Even if he cut off my hand?" He said: "Even so." I asked him again two or three times whereupon he said: "If you kill him after he says la ilaha illallah then you are like him before he said it, and he is like you before you killed him." Narrated by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Nasa'i, Shafi`i in his Musnad, and Bayhaqi in the Shu`ab.

29. afdalu al-dhikri la ilaha illallah. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "The best remembrance of Allah is to say: There is no god but Allah." Tirmidhi (hasan), Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban, Bayhaqi in Shu`ab al-iman, from Jabir ibn `Abd Allah.

30. Al-tasbih nusfu al-mizan, wa al-hamdu lillah tamla'uhu, wa LA ILAHA ILLALLAH laysa laha duna Allahi hijabun hatta tukhlisu ilayh. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "Saying subhan allah (glory to Allah) is half the balance and saying al-hamdu lillah (all praise belongs to Allah) fills it, and there is no veil between la ilaha illallah and Allah Himself (i.e. it is not even weighed in the Balance), it reaches Him directly." Narrated by Tirmidhi from `Abd Allah ibn `Umar. Suyuti in al-Jami` al-saghir said it is sound (sahih).

31. Kunna `inda al-nabiyyi sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam fa qala hal fikum gharib? ya`ni ahl al-kitab qulna la ya rasulallah fa amara bi ghalqi al-abwabi wa qala irfa`u aydikum wa qulu la ilaha illallah! farafa`na aydina sa`atan thumma qala al-hamdu lillah! allahumma innaka ba`athtani bi hadhihi al-kalimai wa wa`adtani `alayha al-jannata wa anta la tukhlifu al-mi`ad! thumma qala abshiru fa innallaha qad ghafara lakum. Ya`la ibn Shaddad relates that his father Shaddad ibn Aws told him as `Ubada ibn al-Samit was present and confirmed it: "We were sitting with Allah's Messenger and he asked if there was any stranger - the narrator said: i.e. People of the Book - in the gathering. We said that there was none. He said: Shut the door, raise up your hands and say: "There is no god but Allah." We raised our hands and recited the kalima tayyiba for some time. He then exclaimed: "al-hamdu lillah! O Allah, You have sent me with this word and have ordered me to teach it and have promised me Paradise for it, and You do not take back Your promise. Be glad, for Allah has forgiven you!" The chain of this hadith is fair (hasan). Narrated from Ya`la ibn Shaddad's father and `Ubada ibn al-Samit by Ahmad, Nasa'i, Tabarani, al-Hakim, al-Mundhiri in al-Targhib, and others. Al-Haythami said in Majma` al-zawa'id: "The sub-narrators in its chain are trustworthy."

32. `Abd Allah ibn Salam relates: As we were travelling with Allah's Messenger he heard the people asking: "Which action is the best, O Allah's Messenger?" He said: "Belief in Allah, fighting in Allah's way, and pilgrimage that is accepted." After this he heard a call coming from a valley saying: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" whereupon he said: "And I bear witness to the same, and I bear witness that no one bears witness to the same except he clears himself of shirk (associating a partner to Allah)." Ahmad and Tabarani in al-Awsat relate it with a sound chain, as stated by Haythami in Majma` al-zawa'id.

33. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- came out and heard the adhan. When he heard the mu'adhdhin say: la ilaha illallah, he said: khala`a al-andad, which means: "He (the speaker) has disowned (the existence of) partners (to Allah)." Ibn Abi al-Dunya narrated it, and Suyuti cites it in his commentary of verse 2:18 in al-Durr al-manthur.

34. Yakhruju min al-nari man qala la ilaha illallah wa kana fi qalbihi min al-khayri ma yazinu sha`ira, thumma yakhruju min al-nari man qala la ilaha illallah wa kana fi qalbihi min al-khayri ma yazinu badhra, thumman yakhruju min al-nari man qala la ilaha illallah wa kana fi qalbihi min al-khayri ma yazinu dharra. "There will come out of the Fire whoever said: There is no god but Allah, and there is in his heart a bead's worth of goodness; then there will come out of the Fire whoever said: There is no god but Allah, and there is in his heart a grain's worth of goodness; then there will come out of the Fire whoever said: There is no god but Allah, and there is in his heart an atom's worth of goodness." Related by Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad, Tirmidhi (hasan sahih), Bayhaqi, Nasa'i, Tabarani, Ibn Majah, and Ibn Khuzayma from Anas.

35. Mu`adh ibn Jabal said that the last he spoke with the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- he asked him: "What action is most beloved to Allah?" And the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- replied: "That you die with your tongue still moist with the mention (dhikr) of Allah." Related by Tabarani and al-Bazzar (hasan). Note that hadith #29 stipulates that the best dhikr is La ilaha illallah.

36. Ala unabbi'ukum bi khayri a`malikum wa azkaha `inda malikikum wa arfa`iha fi darajatikum wa khayrin lakum min infaqi al-dhahabi wa al-waraqi wa khayrin lakum min an talqu `aduwwakum fa tadribu a`naqahum wa yadribu a`naqakum qalu bala qala dhikrullah. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "Shall I tell you something that is the best of all deeds, constitutes the best act of piety in the eyes of your Lord, will elevate your status in the hereafter, and carries more virtue than the spending of gold and silver or taking part in jihad and slaying and being slain in the path of Allah? It is the dhikr or remembrance and mention of Allah." Narrated from Abu al-Darda' by Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ibn Abi al-Dunya, al-Hakim (sahih), al-Dhahabi (who confirmed al-Hakim), and others.

37. Ma `amila adamiyyun `amalan anja lahu min `adhabi al-qabri min dhikrillah. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "A human being cannot do anything that is more effective in saving him from the punishment of the grave than the dhikr or remembrance of Allah." Narrated from Mu`adh ibn Jabal by Ahmad. Haythami said in Majma` al-zawa'id that the sub-narrators in its chain of transmission are the men of sound hadith, although the Tabi`i link is missing; however, Tabarani narrated it through a second chain which is entirely sound (sahih). Also narrated with the word al-`abd (Allah's servant) instead of adamiyyun (a human being) by Malik in his Muwatta', Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, al-Hakim (sahih), and al-Dhahabi (who confirmed al-Hakim).

38. Anas reports that the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- was once asked the same question as Mu`adh in hadith #35, and he replied: "Knowledge of Allah." It was then asked: "And which action adds to this in merit?" He repeated: "Knowledge of Allah." They said: "We ask about actions and you answer concerning knowledge?" The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "A few actions are greatly useful as long as there is knowledge; while a lot of actions are useless if there is ignorance." Anas said: "He spoke of this at length." Ibn `Abd al-Barr reports it in Fadl al-`ilm with a weak chain. See also Ithaf al-sadat al-muttaqin (1:85), Suyuti's al-Durr al-manthur (2:221), and al-Mundhiri's al-Tarhib wa al-Targhib (3:525).

This hadith is confirmed by hadith #37 and by the first phrase of hadith #17 whereby "the best deed is belief in Allah alone." The hadith is further confirmed by our decisive knowledge that the purpose of creation is knowledge of Allah, as indicated by Ibn `Abbas's explanation of the verse wa ma khalaqna al-jinna wa al-insa illa li ya`budun "I did not create the jinn and humankind except to worship (= know) Me" (51:56) and the verse fa`lam annahu la ilaha illallah "Know that there is no god except Allah" (47:19).

39. Wal-ladhi nafsi bi yadihi law ji'a bi al-samawati wa al-ardi wa man fihinna wa ma baynahunna fa wudi`na fi kaffati al-mizani wa wudi`at shahadatu an la ilaha illallahu fi al-kaffati al-ukhra la rajahat bihinna. "By Him in Whose hand is my soul, if the heavens and the earth and all that are in them and everything that is in between were brought and placed in one pan of the Balance, and the witnessing that there is no god but Allah were placed in the other, the latter would outweigh the former." Related by Tabarani and by Suyuti in al-Durr al-manthur. Haythami in Majma` al-zawa'id stated that the sub-narrators in its chain are trustworthy, but that the Tabi`i link is missing.

40. After the passing of the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- from this world Abu Bakr said to the Companions: "I asked Allah's Messenger what basic thing was necessary for salvation and he replied that whoever accepts the Word which I brought and which I offered to my uncle Abu Talib and which he rejected: this Word constitutes salvation for him." Related by Ahmad (1:6), Tabarani in al-Awsat, Tayalisi in his Musnad, Ibn Sa`d in his Tabaqat (2/2:84-85), Abu Ya`la, Ibn Abi Shayba, Bayhaqi in Shu`ab al-iman (1:107-108 #92-93) and al-Bazzar. See above, hadiths #10-11. This hadith is sound although in Ahmad the link between al-Zuhri and Abu Bakr and `Uthman is not named other than "a man from the trustworthy people among the Ansar," while Bayhaqi's and Tayalisi's narration from al-Zuhri is from Sa`id ibn al-Musayyib from `Abd Allah ibn `Amr ibn al-`As.